A Yoruba Summit on Restructuring, under the aegis of Atayese, a Yoruba socio-cultural organization, was held on September 7, 2017 at Ibadan, the political capital of the Yorubas of Southwestern Nigeria under the Chairmanship of Elder Statesman, Chief Afe Babalola, a legal luminary and Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti. Dr. Kunle Olajide chaired the Planning Committee.

In addition to top traditional rulers, politicians, activists, and others in attendance at the one-day Summit, there were representatives of Ohaneze Ndigbo from the South-East, as well as representatives of South-South areas of the country.

Report of the Summit was posted yesterday; link at essay’s end.

The Yoruba Agenda for Restructuring Nigeria includes, among other important points:

The emergence of a national consensus regarding restructuring must be predicated on a priori regional referenda which allow the aggregation of preferences within each zone/region to be brought into clear relief.

The Yoruba Proposals for Restructuring include:

Nigeria shall be a Federation comprising six Regions and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja;

The Federal Government shall make laws and only have powers in relation to items specified on the legislative list contained in the Constitution of the Federation;

The six Regions shall be the Federating units which shall each have equal representation at a unicameral Federal Parliamentary National Assembly;

The Regions shall in turn be composed of States;

Each Region shall have its own consitution containing enumerated Exclusive and Concurrent Legislative lists regarding matters upon which the Regions and the States may act or legislate;

Contiguous territories, ethnic nationalities or settlements shall be at liberty through a plebiscite, to elect to be part of any contiguous Region other than the Region in which the current geo-political zone or State boundaries places them, and

States shall be entitled to manage all resources found within their boundaries and the revenues accruing therefrom. The issue of the entitlement of littoral states to offshore resources and the extension of such rights from the continental shelf and rights accruing to the Federal Government shall be determined by the National Assembly.

Contrary to the falsehood and misinformation being peddled by the rent-a-crowd “protestors” planted in Lagos last weekend after the Summit, there’s no indication of breaking up Nigeria – yet – in the itemised points above.

However, it must be mentioned that the APC/Buhari-led government could be heading for an actualization of its misinformation about breaking-up Nigeria if it continues to see and present what is a drive for a re-working of the governance of the country to achieve equity, probity, growth and development that is the fit for an amalgamation of different nationalities with varied languages, culture and values – as calls for separation.

Thanks very much Ope. There’s no way Nigeria can continue like this if we want your – generation and those yet unborn – to live in a country where they can aspire to be anything as long as they are willing to work towards their goals; a country where a section – as presently obtains in the lopsided allocation of posts and financial resources to the North against the South – is given preferential treatment against the rest of the country.